The I Ching is not light reading that can easily be consumed in between other activities. You should therefore read the book in the quiet of your study. Don’t have a study? Then pop the book in your bag, hop on your bike or drive out of town, and find a lovely spot by the water. Sit or lie down comfortably, open the book, and the images and words will come to you more easily in that setting.
Find the most comfortable position: seated, stretched out, curled up, or lying flat. Flat on your back, on your side, on your stomach. In an easy chair, on the sofa, in the rocker, the deck chair, on the hassock. In the hammock, if you have a hammock. On top of your bed, of course, or in the bed. You can even stand on your hands, head down, in the yoga position. With the book upside down, naturally. Of course, the ideal position for reading is something you can never find. In the old days they used to read standing up, at a lectern. People were accustomed to standing on their feet, without moving. They rested like that when they were tired of horseback riding. Nobody ever thought of reading on horseback; and yet now, the idea of sitting in the saddle, the book propped against the horse's mane, or maybe tied to the horse's ear with a special harness, seems attractive to you. With your feet in the stirrups, you should feel quite comfortable for reading; having your feet up is the first condition for enjoying a read.
Well, what are you waiting for? Stretch your legs, go ahead and put your feet on a cushion, on two cushions, on the arms of the sofa, on the wings of the chair, on the coffee table, on the desk, on the piano, on the globe. Take your shoes off first. If you want to, put your feet up; if not, put them back. Now don't stand there with your shoes in one hand and the book in the other.
If on a winter’s night a traveller - Italo Calvino
The painting above is entitled ‘Reading the Book of Changes by a Mountain Stream’ and was created by Uragami Gyokudo (1745–1820), a Japanese musician, painter, poet and calligrapher. It takes a bit of looking to spot the hut belonging to the person studying the book.
I am too lazy and obstinate to paint small scenes;
I can wet the black ink and grind the red, but ideas are difficult.
Why busy myself to death with my small talents?
Better to discard the brush and face the true mountains.
Uragami Gyokudo - vertaald door Stephen Addiss
